Posts Tagged ‘Spiders Studio’

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I don’t know how to feel about Bound By Flame. I mean, it looks spectacularly competent in all ways, which I realize is something of an oxymoron. Let me explain: it’s swollen – nearly pregnant – with pomp and bombast, but I can’t really see what makes it truly special or standout. Developer Spiders’ previous somewhat comically titled role-player, Mars: War Logs, was the same way, except then it turned out to be not so good. If nothing else, though, Bound By Flame‘s combat looks pretty good. You can watch it below. Also, I just skimmed my own paragraph and saw the phrase “pregnant spiders,” and now I need to go find a new brain because this one is ruined.

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It’s going to be very hard for a big ol’ fantasy RPG to get my attention while not beingThe Witcher 3. From the developer of the wooden War Logs of Mars, Bound By Flame is the tale of a mercenary possessed by a flame demon. You are that mercenary! Or maybe you’re the flame demon. That would be a decent twist actually, explaining away the somewhat arbitrary nature of control over conversations and relationships that tends to be par for the course in games of this sort. The demon thinks it would be amusing to force the poor hero to give one of his travelling companions four hundred turkey dinners, only to fall into despair as the grateful recipient immediately disrobes. Bound by Flame: The Screwtape Letters. Trailer below.

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Spiders send word that their action RPG War Logs – which John gave a long, hard stare a while back – has had new English-language localisation to improve the shonky voice-acting that the game suffered on released. They explain: “The actual game was thoroughly tested and released with very few bugs on PC, but unfortunately the procedures for the audio and text QA failed and allowed many English localization issues to slip through. We realized the extent of the problem after seeing the first feedback from the press and gamers.” This has now been patched up on all versions of the game, apparently.

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Yes, that’s an attempt at a David Bowie reference couched in, like, five other references. Because Mars War Logs comes from a company called Spiders, you see, and Bowie’s band was called… and then I switched around the stuff to mean… and anyway. My job is really hard sometimes, everyone. But yes, Mars from the videogame studio Spiders (which I can neither confirm nor deny is from Mars) is out! It looks kinda like Mass Effect meets RAGE meets Chronicles of Riddick, which is quite a seductively sandy cocktail, if you ask me. But, at the same time, Cyanide and Spiders (truly, a winning combination) haven’t had the strongest track record in the past. Hmmm. Perhaps the launch trailer after the break will knock some of the cobwebs off my purchasing finger?

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An important lesson about background music can be learned from the most recent Mars: War Logs (yes, they’re sticking with “War Logs”) trailer. What should have been an overview of the promising-looking RPG turns into an ear-straining confusion as you try to pick out the voice from the strumming music and shouty game noise. Which is a bit silly of them, because it’s looking rather interesting.

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While Mars: War Logs prepares to lumber into view, news reaches us today that Spiders Studio are also working on a larger project, Bound By Flame, an “action/role-playing game [that] lets you play a mercenary possessed by a flame demon in an ambitious Dark Fantasy universe”. The press release doesn’t specify whether the real-time combat can be paused but the words ‘Dark Fantasy’ followed by some wittering about sidequests, companions, romance and rivalry makes me think of Dragon Age. My brain has been sorely infected by a blight from long ago, truth be told, and the rumble of dark fantasy RPGs in the distance still sets me to thinking about copious blood-spatter and Marilyn Manson.

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Mars: War Logs. Wars: Lar Mogs. Lars: Mor Wags. Yes, Mars: War Logs’ name may be easily transmutable into extremely silly sounding phrases (I like the last one because it makes me think of some upper-class so-and-so commanding their dog, Lars, to wag its tail better), but it actually looks quite intriguing as far as Captain Commando McSpaceBiff adventures go. In short, Lars: War Mogs tells cyberpunk-y role-playing to get its nanomachine-enhanced ass to Mars, and the result looks like a surprisingly stylish fusion of Mass Effect and RAGE. Moving pictures and moving words after the break.